NOVEMBER 23, 2022 WISD PERFORMERS HEAD TO UIL STATE
TEXANS YIELD 5TH SHUTOUT OF THE YEAR PAGE 5
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News-Dispatch © Barton Publications, Inc.
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HaysNewsDispatch.com
Vol. 43 • No. 9
Serving Hays County, TX
DSISD board, parents Dripping Springs volleyball address failed bond earns third state championship BY MEGAN WEHRING
BY WAYLAND D. CLARK
In the team’s first year in Class 6A, the Lady Tigers won the UIL State Championship. They did it on the biggest stage in Texas high school volleyball by defeating The Woodlands High School 3-1 in the semifinals and sweeping Katy Tompkins 3-0 in the finals game at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland. When asked about the jump to 6A, head coach Michael Cane said “A good team is a good team.” Cane has taken his Dripping Springs volleyball teams to the state tournament six times in his 10 years at the helm (4A 2013, 5A 2014, 2015, 2018, 2020,
See VOLLEYBALL, page 6
PHOTO BY EILEEN HAEFNER
The Lady Tigers rush the court after winning the state championship.
How to help WISD teens for the holidays STAFF REPORT
WIMBERLEY – Wimberley ISD needs the community’s help to keep its holiday marketplace afloat. The Holiday Teen Marketplace will be collecting donations for its annual holiday gift store on Nov. 28-29 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the back of the Wimberley ISD Administration Building The Holiday Teen Marketplace at Wimberley ISD. located at 951 FM 2325. • Jewelry loved brands such as Vans, The holiday shop provides • Winter hats Hey Dudes, Converse, Nike, students with a fun, stress• Sports hats Adidas, Under Armour, free "marketplace" to shop • Pajamas Hollister, American Eagle, at no cost to them for • Holiday wrapping paper PacSun, Levi's, Wranglers jackets, shoes, clothing and • New socks and and Wimberley Texan gear. holiday gifts. undergarments If you would like to In order for the shop to • Cozy blankets shop specific teen wish be successful, the following • Makeup lists, please visit this donations are needed. • Games Amazon link: https://www. • Jackets • Gadgets amazon.com/registries/ • Leggings • Candy holiday/32A842APTD0I8/ • Sweatpants, • Gifts for family members guest-view • Joggers • Hygiene products Additionally, this year, • Shoes Gift cards are also each student who shops • Dresses appreciated from teenat the marketplace will be • Skirts
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
provided with a packet of personal hygiene products. Organizers hope to serve 75 students this year. Adult helpers are also needed to set up and run the store. Volunteers can sign up at https:// www.signupgenius.com/ go/10C0E4EAAAC23A64holiday Contact Andra Cole at 512-934-8733 or Delayne Van De Walle at 210-6833981 with any questions or concerns.
SETTING GOALS
Cross country coach aims for top 10 BY MEGAN WEHRING DRIPPING SPRINGS – Kourtney Morris, head coach of girls cross country at Dripping Springs High School,
looks for her team to make it into the top 10 every year. This year, the team made its ninth-straight state appearance and recorded a 16th-place
finish at the UIL 6A State Meet on Friday, Nov. 8 in Round Rock. Madison Johnson was the top finisher for the Tigers with a time of 20:34
See GOALS, page 6
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
The DSHS girls cross country team made its ninth appearance at the UIL State Meet. From left: head coach Kourtney Morris, Chandler Latham, Madison Johnson, Laurel Hoskovec, Maggie Greenville, Alexa Velasco, Sofia Vences, Avery Dixon, Emmy Ashby, Mia Simons, Rylea Bernhard, Lucy Fredenburg and assistant coach Thomas Acker.
GUNNER THAMES MEMORIAL FOUNDATION TO RECEIVE ARPA FUNDS – PAGE 3
DRIPPING SPRINGS – Dripping Springs ISD’s $481.13 million bond package did not pass in the Nov. 8 General Election, leaving several parents and the district to question what’s next. The DSISD board of trustees held its first meeting after Election Day on Monday, Nov. 14, welcoming many concerned parents and members of the community to speak up about the failed bond package. Lauren Naylor, parent and former middle school teacher, said she woke up the morning after Election Day devastated at the results that the bond did not pass. “The ratio of students to teachers is already bad and knowing what was going to ensue and how many teachers would leave just made my heart drop into my stomach,” Naylor said. John Adams, a teacher at Dripping Springs High School, said this was the first bond package that he has witnessed fail “in this fast-growing district” within the 27 years he has been with DSISD. “I believe it failed because some of our trustees chose not to provide leadership by educating our community members in the face of this wellfunded disinformation campaign,” Adams said. “Trustees see far more information than the average citizen and are in a unique position to refute falsehoods that circulate, should they choose to … Other than being able to say how disappointed I am in these board members, the failure of the bond proposals failure to pass has left me speechless.” Nathan Kaspar, who voted in opposition, said that the people who voted not to approve the bond did so for two reasons: cost and trust. “The vote to not send it forward and to defeat the bonds wasn’t against providing schools or against our kids, it was against these overpriced Taj Mahal schools that are not necessary,” Kaspar said. He added that if DSISD says that the property tax rate is not going to increase, there needs to be data to back that up. In his experience through email and in meetings, Carl Aubrey said that he has not received “clear and concise communication” with the board. Leah Finn, parent of a Dripping Springs Elementary School first grader, said it’s time to get organized when it comes
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to the district’s future. “I believe there is no better time to seriously take a look at creating a fundraising arm of the Dripping Springs Education Fund to address the needs of the district,” Finn said. “One of the big concerns for creating this initiative is manpower, but what I can tell you [is] where there is a will, there is a way. There are a lot of parents out there that want to get involved.” Finn added that there was some misinformation about the bond that was circulating on social media and there should be a plan on how to better the communication moving forward. The board’s perspective Superintendent Holly Morris-Kuentz said that the board needs to start discussions about two topics: addressing district growth challenges and future bond planning. For immediate responses to addressing growth, Morris-Kuentz said that the board could look at attendance zoning, portables and increased class sizes. Rezoning is the last resort for trustee Barbara Stroud and some of the other board members echoed her point. Stroud added that increasing class sizes may not be a solution for all campuses logistically. “My understanding of the research is you do better with smaller class sizes,” Stroud said. “That’s obviously something that we have always tried to prioritize. But even apart from that, it’s not so much the class size as in terms of student to staff ratio; a lot of our classrooms are just simply not big enough to do that.” Trustee Shannon O’Connor said that sometimes, rezoning is the best option for students. “We don’t want them in a school where the classrooms are so overcrowded and they have no access to anything,” O’Connor said. “Is it desirable for them to be rezoned? No. That is a hard decision and we don’t like it but at the end of the day, sometimes that is the best thing for kids in that moment.” Some board members felt ill-prepared Monday night and wanted more time to gather their thoughts for a future conversation. There was no vote following the bond discussion. The board discussed improving communication with the community by scheduling more workshops and special meetings for a future bond. “We have to unite
See DSISD, page 2